Prayer Calendar - November

As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us begin to look forward to spending time with family and friends. For some of us though, this is not a happy reality. Faa and her staff at GROW work continuously with the families of our children believing that healthy families give children a healthier chance in life.  This month, we pray for you, that you may enjoy the blessings of family around you, whether biological or not.  We ask for your prayers for the GROW children who either no longer have family outside of GROW, or who cannot safely visit their family yet.

Does Thailand Celebrate Thanksgiving?

Even though Thanksgiving is an American holiday, people all over the world celebrate their own version of “Thanksgiving”. Thailand is no exception.

Christian Celebrations

In Faa’s village, over 20 churches come together on a selected day between October and December with one church being the host. Members come together for a worship service. They give gifts to their leaders and pastors. The celebration ends with an auction of produce from local farmers as a way to give back to the church for church missions.

After the service and auction, around 2 PM, the church members enjoy lunch together. Over 1000 people attend each year.

In the city, some churches have “Thanksgiving Day” between January and March. They have a worship service but do not have the auction.  They do have produce from local farmers set up outside the church for people to purchase to raise money for the church’s ministries.

Our GROW family in Thailand will celebrate “Thanksgiving” in the local church.

Secular Celebrations

Thailand doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving in our traditional sense. If you are traveling through Thailand over Thanksgiving, you can find five-star hotel buffets, exclusive eateries and quaint local spots each offering their own unique take on turkey and pumpkin pie as they cater to Western travelers.

If you are looking for a “harvest festival” in Thailand, you will probably come across Thailand’s Loy Krathong festival.

Thailand’s Loy Krathong is an ancient Thai festival to honor and thank the water spirits for the water provided during the growing season. It is celebrated in November, on the first full moon after the rice harvest.  People across Thailand flock to the rivers and canals with their Krathong floats to celebrate the Loy Krathong Festival, or the ‘festival of light.’  The significance of this holiday is to worship and ask forgiveness to Ganga, the goddess of water, and to worship the Buddha’s hair pagoda in the heaven.

Believers in Jesus Christ though understand that it is through Jesus that we receive forgiveness, and all we have comes through Him. He alone deserves our worship and thanksgivings.

May our focus this Thanksgiving be on the One Who is worthy of all our praise, the One who offers us the greatest gift – Himself.

FUN FACT

Turkey in Thai is ไก่งวง [gài-nguang].
[gài] means chicken.
[nguang] means elephant trunk.

It is funny that when you put these two words together, you get Turkey! Hmm, a chicken with an elephant trunk. I can see it. Can you?